SALT LAKE CITY — The situation the Lakers faced on Wednesday night was similar to one they were in nearly a month ago: playing without LeBron James on the road against the Utah Jazz.
But unlike that Jan. 13 loss, the Lakers fared significantly better this time, in large part because of a dominant third quarter led by Anthony Davis (37 points, 15 rebounds) and Rui Hachimura scoring a career-high 36 points. The end result was a 138-122 win, their sixth in seven games, in their final contest before the All-Star break.
The Lakers have won three in a row and 11 of their past 16, putting them at four games over .500 (30-26) for the first time since Dec. 15 when they were 15-11.
The Lakers controlled most of the first half, leading by as many as 14 (50-36), but they allowed the Jazz to cut the deficit to 70-69 by halftime.
Utah carried that momentum into the third quarter, taking small leads early before Davis took advantage of the Jazz not doubling or blitzing him as much as they did in their previous matchup. The All-Star big man scored 17 points in the third to help the Lakers open a 108-92 lead going into the fourth.
The Lakers closed the third on a 12-0 run for what was then a game-high 16-point advantage: an Austin Reaves 3-pointer put the Lakers ahead 99-92; Davis had a putback dunk and later made a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 103-92; Taurean Prince (11 points) banked in a jumper to give the Lakers a 13-point lead before Reaves (22 points, seven rebounds, four rebounds, three assists) stole an inbound pass for an and-one layup to put the Lakers up by 16.
At one point, Davis scored 10 straight points as part of a 30-10 surge. The last time he played in Utah, he shot a career-worst 5 for 21. This time, he was nearly unstoppable on jumpers, spinning drives and putbacks, finishing 13 for 25 from the field and 10 for 13 from the free-throw line.
Hachimura, who entered Wednesday having scored 30 points four times in his five-year career, matched that with a turnaround jumper over Walker Kessler to give the Lakers a 121-107 advantage with 6:25 left.
Davis assisted Hachimura on a 3-pointer later in the fourth to put the Lakers ahead 124-107 to set a new career-high of 33 points before D’Angelo Russell assisted Hachimura for another 3-pointer that made it 134-113.
The Lakers shot 57% with offensive spacing that allowed drives to the basket and wide-open 3-pointers off kick-out passes. Russell’s assist to Hachimura was his 17th of the game, setting a career high to go with 11 points and nine rebounds. The Lakers finished with 34 assists on 52 field goals.
Both teams pulled their primary rotation players with 2:27 remaining and the Lakers leading 136-113 after a Reaves layup.
James, who sat out the second game of a back-to-back, has been nursing a left ankle injury. He is set to play in his 20th NBA All-Star Game on Sunday in Indianapolis.
Collin Sexton scored 18 points to pace six players in double figures for the Jazz (26-29), who have lost nine of 13 to fall out of the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. Jordan Clarkson had 17 and Lauri Markkanen added 16.